Associations of circulating T-cell subsets with carotid artery stiffness: the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis

We investigated associations between T-cells and novel measures of structural and load-dependent arterial stiffness in a large multiethnic cohort. The primary analysis revealed that pro-inflammatory, senescence-associated CD4 ⁺ CD28 ^– CD57 ⁺ T-cells were associated with higher load-dependent arterial stiffness. An exploratory analysis revealed that multiple pro-inflammatory CD4 ⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T-cell subpopulations were associated with both higher structural and load-dependent arterial stiffness. These results suggest that pro-inflammatory T-cells may contribute to arterial stiffness through both arterial remodeling and elevated blood pressure.